Bucky the Disney Princess
by buchananbarnes
Summary: Natasha dumps Steve and Bucky off at Disneyland for the day. Post Cap 2


"Aw, c'mon, Buck," Steve pleaded, "this'll be fun, you'll have a great time! Stop looking so cross." Natasha had decided that taking Bucky to Disneyland might lighten his mood, 'You know, give him a taste of childhood- he's probably forgotten most of his.' Steve thought it was pretty far-fetched, but he was desperate, he leaps at any chance that might help bring Bucky's memory back. So, they "borrowed" a S.H.I.E.L.D aircraft and flew to California in practically no time flat.

The pout on Bucky's face only grew darker.

"I hate it here," He said flatly. It had taken a long time to get him to talk, and now he was almost holding full conversations with people. Almost.

"No you don't, you haven't even been here for twelve minutes." Steve said. He always tried to sound friendly near Bucky, acting rude would only push him further away, but it was difficult, what with this negative teenager-like attitude.

"It's too hot." Bucky examined his surroundings. There were too many people here. He was still learning how to act around people, sometimes they made him nervous, but he didn't dare let Steve know that. Children of all ages ran around in and out through the legs of adults, almost everyone was wearing a dumb Mickey Mouse-ear hat. There didn't seem to be enough parents for all these kids to belong to.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have worn all black today." Steve looked around, new Bucky would never agree to go on any of these rides. He longed for old Bucky to come back. Old Bucky would shove him on as many scary rides as possible, and laugh when Steve got sick. Steve would give anything for the old Bucky, but he knew no matter what they tried, he will never be the same Bucky. Never.

"Come on Barnes, this'll be good for you," His thoughts were interrupted by Natasha tossing Steve a mobile phone, "I'll be back around ten, I have something I have to do. Call if there's any trouble. You _do _know how that thing works, right?"

"Ha ha, Nat, very funny." Steve rolled his eyes with fondness.

"I know, I'm hilarious. See you, Barnes. Oh- and Rogers, if he starts to act up, shove him into Small World, let him tear the thing down, even _thinking _about the ride gets that damn song stuck in my head." She was half-joking. Bucky still had major post-traumatic stress disorder, but who wouldn't? Being frozen and defrosted for the past 70 years like leftovers only to be ordered to murder someone then come back to have your brain bleached can't be easy.

Natasha walked back out of the gate and over to the empty lot where she parked the carrier.

"People are staring at my arm." Bucky was in somewhat of a staring contest with a small six-year-old girl.

"Nobody's staring at your arm, Buck, tons of people have prosthetic body parts." Steve unfolded a colorful map and looked around, trying to figure out where they were.

"But no one has a metal weapon of mass destruction attached to their left side." Bucky hated feeling self-conscious. His arm was always getting him attention. Most people that confronted him said that it looked "wicked cool" but he still didn't like the feeling.

"Lighten up, Buck. Hey! Why don't we try Splash Mountain! That looks fun, eh Buck?" Steve almost reached Bucky's hand, but stopped himself and just tapped his chest with the back of his hand, then broke into a half-run to the line.

Bucky's expression grew darker. He swiftly stomped along through the cheery looking crowd and pulled his hat down to shade his eyes. He reached Steve, who looked way too happy to be here, for a 25/95-year-old man.

"Hey, save our spot, I wanna go get something…" Steve giddily weaved in and out of the groups of people over to a stand that was selling Mickey Mouse hats.

Bucky shoved his hands into his pocket and tried his hardest to look utterly annoyed with everything. When he turned around, his gaze was met by Steve, a fully grown man, wearing one of the stupid ear hats.

"You look like an idiot." Bucky said, it was hard not to grin, seeing as Steve looked like an utter dork, so he frowned hard.

"Yeah, well so do you." Steve replied flicking off Bucky's cap and replacing it with another Mickey hat. Bucky's eyes widened, he looked absolutely mortified. Steve snorted and burst into laughter, he buckled over and had to grab his knee to keep from falling to the ground. Bucky scowled, but he didn't remove the hat. He would take it off when Steve wasn't looking.

They exited the ride uncomfortably wet, but Bucky guessed that's what he should've expected from a rollercoaster called 'Splash Mountain'.

"Hey, look at that, Buck! They took a picture of us!" They stopped to stare at the screen. Steve had a wild grin and was clutching the bar. Bucky was frowning, but his eyes were laughing, it was like the water had melted his icy blue stare to reveal the laughing pale sapphire. His eyes looked like normal, like how they did before... Steve glanced at Bucky hopefully. But he saw only a blank, unamused stare. Steve purchased the photo and folded it into his wallet.

"You hungry, Buck?" Steve asked, they had been wandering around for almost an hour, Steve had been using the camera Tony sent him for Christmas to take pictures of the characters that were dressed up or of the buildings, and he even got a couple of Bucky, before he threatened to throw it into the fountain.

"No." Bucky had denied every request Steve had for going on rides. He knew he would want to have a good time, but it was hard. He tried to let himself have fun, but it was almost like there was someone inside his head telling him that he couldn't be a nice person, or to have a good life anymore- almost like everything positive he tried to do wasn't allowed.

"Sure you are, c'mon let's get a burger."

They sat at a small metal table, Bucky was careful not to rest his arm on it, afraid that if he did, someone would bump it and a horrible screaking noise would ensue. He stared at Steve, he knew his expression was full of hate, even though he wasn't. He already had some memories of Steve restored. Only a couple, he knew he was supposed to love him, and he tried, he really did…

"Are you gonna eat, pal?" Steve looked up from his second hamburger. Bucky was starving, but he didn't want to give in. Finally, he picked it up off the plate and took a bite. Steve smiled with relief as Bucky managed to wolf down a quarter of the food that was on the table.

They spent the remaining day wandering around the park, Steve convinced Bucky to go on about eight more rides. The sky was dark periwinkle, and Steve had heard that there were going to be fireworks starting at 8:30, so they began to make their way over to the show.

"You know, Rog- Steve…" Bucky began suddenly "I… had… an okay time." he admitted. It was true, that day Bucky had felt the best he had since… well, since he could remember. But that wasn't saying much.

"You did?" Steve tried to hold back his excitement. Hallelujah was playing in his head.

"Yeah. I did. Now shut up about it." He wanted to make sure that Steve didn't get the wrong idea.

They had reached the edge of the castle bridge by then. Bucky was startled when the first explosion cracked. Steve stifled a laugh, and Bucky flashed a quick glare, then glanced around to make sure no one else saw him jump. The sky lit up with glittering reds, pinks and greens. It was beautiful, it reminded Steve of the time he and Bucky went to the Coney Island. He flashed a quick glance at Bucky, and did a double-take. He stared for a good two minutes before he could comprehend what he saw.

Tears. There were tears in Bucky's eyes. His ice-filled eyes were coated with glistening tears. Steve himself started to get choked up… _did he…?_

He did. The memory of him and Steve and him on the grass at Coney Island. Their heads tilted back, watching the white and gold firecrackers flash above their heads. How much fun they had earlier that day, how Bucky had somehow persuaded Steve to go on the cyclone, and how Steve ended up getting vomiting in a trash bin. He remembered it. It was one of the few things he could. Bucky bit his bottom lip and looked down. He glanced at Steve who quickly turned away.

They trotted through the mass of people leaving the park to the lot where Natasha was waiting for them. She had changed her clothes.

"Hey, boys. You have a good time?" She asked, not even looking up from her cell phone. Her eyebrows were half-arched and she was almost smiling, but not quite.

"Yeah, I did." Steve looked at Bucky and half-nudged him in the metal elbow as they climbed into the small copter.

"What about you, Barnes?" Natasha asked, pulling her seatbelt over her torso. She was smiling, like she had seen the funniest thing in the world. Bucky had no idea why, and it annoyed him.

"Hmh." Bucky grunted trying to softly close the door, but still ending up slamming it.

Natasha continued to break the silence by talking about her errands (if you could call breaking into the former president of Russia's office and copying his files from his laptop an errand). Neither one of them was listening, she knew that, which is why she wasn't worried to talk about it. Steve was staring back at Bucky, who was glowering out the window of the back seat. He was focusing, rethinking every single detail he could about sitting with Steve in the grass on Coney Island… he didn't want to forget it again.

They got home safely, Natasha was tired from all the talking she did on the ride home (she had fun making up obscene adventures to see if they were paying attention, and they still weren't) and was off down to her and Clint's floor in the tower. Steve persuaded Tony to let Bucky stay with him on his floor, and after many, _many _arguments with Nick "that man is a threat, and he needs to be kept under tight security at all times" Fury they added on another room to his apartment.

They were both dead tired, it was past four in the morning, and Bucky had another memory rehabilitation therapy session to go to later that day (Steve accompanied him to every single one, even though most of the time the shrink made him wait in the lobby).

"Buck…?" Steve called quietly right before he entered his room.

Bucky halted at the door, his hand gripping the doorknob to his bedroom.

"Did… did you remember something… earlier today, at the fireworks…?" Steve asked hesitantly.

"Yeah." Bucky's throat felt tight, he cleared it quietly.

Steve had to clear his throat as well, to keep form choking up "what did you remember…?"

"The fireworks at Coney Island."

"Huh."

"What?"

"I was thinking of that too… I guess at the same time you were..." Steve turned and made eye contact with his former friend. Instead of seeing the frosted cobalt he normally did, he saw more tears covering the diamond-shaded eyes.

Bucky slowly turned the doorknob, as Steve dragged his feet into his room.

"G'night, Buck." Steve called absent-mindedly. He always said that, even though Bucky never replied back, he normally just heard a door slam in response.

"Goodnight." Bucky was still standing at his door, but when he heard Steve's sudden silence as he turned to look at him, Bucky quickly slid inside and closed it hard.

Bucky walked past his mirror over to his closet to change, but he stopped in the middle of his tracks and whipped back to take another look at himself. _He was still wearing the damn Mickey Mouse ear hat. _He grabbed the hat and threw it on his bedside table. After he was undressed, he took one last look at it before turning out the lights.

"_Punk."_


End file.
